Foreigner-Friendly SIM Card

It's Spring 2017 and the world's most populous metropolitan area is heaving with residents and since recent tourists. Welcome to Tokyo- where a train departs every 10 minutes and a new adventure begins.
Japan is experiencing a historic tourist boom largely due to external factors= including the rise of China. So while it remains timeless, exotic even odd at times it can even be frustrating especially if you want to have access to the same conveniences you have at home- namely a phone number, text and unlimited data package.
I did say it's 2017, right? Well that's how long it's taken. No longer do you need to rent at the airport or open a Japanese bank account to have a Japanese SIM. In fact you don't even need to be in Japan yet- a new (but old) company by the name of Mobal have decided to fix this oddity thanks to their partners at the Japanese telecoms giant Softbank.
Free Worldwide Delivery, Free Incoming Calls & Texts, Unlimited Data, No Contract- Yippee. Here's to 2017 and beyond!

Why do you need a SIM Card?

It's Spring 2017 and the world's most populous metropolitan area is heaving with residents and since recent tourists. Welcome to Tokyo- where a train departs every 10 minutes and a new adventure begins.Japan is experiencing a historic tourist boom largely due to external factors= including the rise of China. So while it remains timeless, exotic even odd at times it can even be frustrating especially if you want to have access to the same conveniences you have at home- namely a phone number, text and unlimited data package.I did say it's 2017, right? Well that's how long it's taken. No longer do you need to rent at the airport or open a Japanese bank account to have a Japanese SIM. In fact you don't even need to be in Japan yet- a new (but old) company by the name of Mobal have decided to fix this oddity thanks to their partners at the Japanese telecoms giant Softbank.Free Worldwide Delivery, Free Incoming Calls & Texts, Unlimited Data, No Contract- Yippee. Here's to 2017 and beyond!

For Japan's immediate neighbours -China, Korean & Taiwan- who between them made up half of the 24 million visitors to Japan in 2016- Japan's attraction is Culture, Cost and Proximity. But it seems like corporate Japan was late noticing the trend and despite being an amazingly convenient country it's still rife with red-tape.There are Wi-Fi hotspots everywhere but only 10% are free and the other 90% are simply not accessible to non-residents. To get a Japanese phone number in a regular phone shop you maybe asked to buy a handset or sign-up to a contract with stiff termination fees.And if you leave Tokyo it's like a time-slip in places- nice but far less options for mobile solutions.It seems tourists have had no choice but to carry rental Mi-Fi modems along with their smartphones and pay for rental of an extra device or use a data-only SIM with limited time or data capacity.If you probe deeper you will learn that Japanese Telecommunication Law has been designed to protect foreigners , who are a transient bunch at best, to skip the country leaving unpaid mobile phone bills and broken contracts in their wake.

A quick search online and it looks like most people's spirits have been broken searching for what they really want and most have had to compromise.

No longer- this Mobal SIM gives you the option to just talk - Talk & Text Plan or use Data, Voice and SMS all-in.

It should have been that easy in the beginning but now they've got to fight a rearguard action against those who still believe this product is or should be non-existent.